Breaking Entrepreneurship Myths with John Carroll
Is it impossible to grow your business from zero to a thousand employees in over two years? Is it impossible to “retire” at an early age because you don’t need to work to survive? John Carroll is a great example to break these myths and help you understand the reality of being a leader and entrepreneur.
John Carroll, Entrepreneur and Learner
John has done what most would consider impossible. His company grew from zero to a thousand employees in two years. Even though it was a great successes, it was an overwhelming task to take on so much growth in so little time. Find out what it was like to handle this, and how it was both a blessing and a curse.
Tune in to listen to these three main lessons from John’s journey:
1) Create a Good Culture in Your Company
The culture in your company determines how the employees interact and feel. If you are starting a business, you need to create a good culture and constantly improve it. If you are entering a company, there will be an established culture for you to navigate, and you will be able to see how the leaders evoke the positive or negative impact that it has on team members.
The earlier you focus on changing the culture, the better the results you are going to get. John explains how in the startup phase, you are in charge of creating a good culture. It is definitely going to change and, hopefully, improve with time as long as it’s prioritized. As you grow intellectually and emotionally, remember to transmit that to others.
2) Hire your weaknesses
You cannot let ego get in your way of learning. You need to surround yourself with people that are better at things than you are. This is what successful people do. There is always someone better or worse than you, that’s why you cannot compare yourself to others. If you do, you won’t learn anything from them and instead you’re either going to feel good or bad about yourself.
John understood this with his business. They were in dire need of a software expert, so they hired one. Her base salary would end up being more than the owners base salary, but it was considered necessary. John knew how valuable this expert was and decided it was the right decision because nobody in the company knew how to do what the expert did. Hiring experienced professionals will almost always pay off if they know how to fix the issues no one else can.
3) Are you ready to retire?
No one has the same road ahead of them. John believes that there is no right age to retire. Most people do it because they are told that at a certain age they should be living in a condo in Florida and living off their savings, but what if you don’t want that? John became financially free at an early age and decided to retire and enjoy life. He sold his first business and had the time and money to do anything… after a couple of weeks, he realized that he wasn’t enjoying retirement and needed to do something else. Now he has another company and won’t stop until something in life tells him to stop.
Don’t be afraid of making those choices for yourself. Life has a funny way of keeping you trapped in the status quo, but if you’re fortunate enough to retire early, why not? Or, on the other hand, if retirement isn’t something you think is for you, continue doing the work that you love. However way you want to spend your life, you’re correct in wanting it. Don’t let outside pressures keep you under the societal mold.
“Remind Yourself of Your Blessings”